Poverty Consciousness…what is it? To get to a deeper layer to this inquiry, one has to ask some questions, and question some assumptions!

According the Merriam-Webster dictionary, POVERTY is defined as a lack of something, renunciation, scarcity and lack of fertility.

Dictionary.reference.com states that POVERTY is a state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support and further goes on to offer that POVERTY is a deficiency of necessary or desirable ingredients, qualities, etc. as well as scantiness and insufficiency.

Furthermore, the definition of POVERTY on indigenous peoples and small villages often precedes the actual conditions that produce POVERTY or economic devastation of places and peoples.

Think about that for a moment….when we label people as poverty stricken, or make poverty some strange away ideal to place on people…what exactly and how exactly are we, as people, defining others or telling them where to be while simultaneously trying to lift them from that condition? Insufficiency is completely opposite of sufficiency.

Sit with this for a moment longer. Definitely, I am not saying people are not in poverty or spiritual poverty, but think about the limitation that puts on anyone’s psyche….especially a depressed person, a starving person, any person, or even, should a small child hear and internalize. Poverty Consciousness precedes isolation and social exclusion, a further cause of disenfranchisement of a group or certain peoples.

Many people live in POVERTY WITHOUT subordinating to the idea that they, themselves, are in poverty. Yet, there are people on the wealthier end of the spectrum who believe they are always in poverty. Poverty Consciousness is a state of Heart. Poverty Consciousness is a state of Mind. One can live in real material poverty, but be extremely wealthy in a state of Heart and Mind.

All peoples should have access to safe water, food, basic healing and shelter. But beyond these basics, there is the troubling idea of poverty consciousness that is literally unknown to most indigenous and village peoples across the planet, until we introduce the concept to them.

It is, indeed, a limitation placed on the psyche that bars the simple practice of gratitude, and loving and caring within groups, as well as the abundance of love coming from the Divine. Often, people in poverty consciousness quit sharing their gifts of Spirit or wealth, as they are living in a psyche of lack, a psyche of emptiness.

I know this is a challenging post, but if we sit with this for a moment, the full impact of what these words mean and can do, and how limiting they are on growth of Spirit, we will understand the power of the WORD, and when working with others, will help them heal by connection with an abundant way of thinking and being, and not reinforcing a consciousness of poverty…essentially, a precursor to increased poverty and depression. We never help others by minimizing them with such labels. Poverty is passive, breeding more of its own kind, and puts people who are truly struggling in the position of passive receiving without the strength to fill up and share back with abundance, whether materially or spiritually. So, when we help people and communities, we help them up on their feet, not undermining them further into collapse.

When we start to understand Poverty Consciousness as a metaphor for lacking fertility, a whole new meaning of the word Poverty dawns on us, and we may be more careful with its use!

And with gratitude we are all raised up. Love, singing, sharing and caring are some of the fruits. A better way to love people up! Let us eat the bread and fishies together! And drink our herbal teas, which cost so little, are free to those with the eyes, and bring out abundance of sufficiency in the human form.